There are many different ways students get involved in the community, one of them is Boys Scouts. Boy Scouts is an organization with the goal of developing students by helping them promote character, outdoor activities, good citizenship, and service to others. There are about eight troops in Midland alone and nearly 38,713 troops in the United States.
There are many different ranks within the scouts including Scout, Tenderfoot, Second-class, First-class, Star, Life, and Eagle. The scouts do various things including camping nearly once a month, service projects for the community, and doing troop advancements to reach the level of Eagle.
Separate from the ranks are certain jobs and positions within the ranks including; Bugler, Patrol leader, Senior Patrol leader, Troop Guide, Webmaster, Quartermaster, OA troop rep, Assistant Patrol leader, and Assistant Senior Patrol leader.
Junior Matthew Painter has been scouting since the 5th grade and is on his final stretch of achieving the Eagle rank. Painter’s job is the OA troop rep. Painter referred to the OA (Order of Arrow) as the national honors society to DHS, his job is to bridge his troop and the OA together. Painter is part of Troop 763 which contains 85-100 scouts but this number will usually grow during February to March due to crossovers from Cub scouts (a junior branch of the Boy Scouts, for boys aged about 8 to 10).
“My favorite part of scouts is everything; I love to hike, camp, and give back to the community. I have learned so much from scouts and I hope when I have kids that they will also take part in scouts,” junior Matthew Painter said.
Junior Andrew Wells has been in scouts for a total of 11 years. Wells is in Troop 768 which also contains a lot of scouts.
“I have learned so much from scouts; like leadership skills and I’ve also made many friends that I doubt I would’ve never met without being in scouts,” Wells said.
Juniors Matthew Painter and Andrew Wells along with their troops went to Philmont, New Mexico in 2012 for a hiking trip. They had to do three practice hikes just to prepare before their trek out in New Mexico. The hike in Philmont took a total of 10 days. Those 10 days included hiking 10 miles with a 50 pound bag on their backs. But that doesn’t include all of their work like having time to set up camp and to cook dinner.
“It takes a lot of mental and physical strength to carry a bag that heavy for that long of a time but there was nothing more beautiful than seeing the birds, rivers and trees every step of the way.”Painter said.
